In a timely and engaging study, David Carey and the rest of the authors involved in this volume have made a strong case for the importance of alcohol both within Guatemalan history and as an illuminating subject of historical research beyond Guatemalan borders. Detailed and thoroughly researched individual chapters cover a range of geographical regions and chronological periods within Guatemala's history, from the Caribbean coastline to the Chiapas border and from the colonial era to the mid-twentieth century, which will make the volume a useful overview of the subject for students and scholars alike. Together these individual contributions tell a convincing story about the need for alcohol to become as central to historical scholarship on Guatemala as coffee has been until now.

Several core arguments underpin the volume as a whole, and this cohesion is aided by the authors' explicit acknowledgments of...